Day 45: Sun Room

[notthistrain]

Despite the bit of bravado he'd displayed for Yuffie's sake, seeing her that way really had done a number on him. It was a good thing he'd found the bulletin board afterward. Having it confirmed that this state wasn't normal (was, in fact, new as of that morning) made it much easier to think positive. They'd get back the Yuffie they knew one way

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[iwhipthefool]

Her father. The bastards had gotten to her father of all people. Why not that blasted spikey haired fool?! Or even that redhaired miscreant? Or... or anyone but her father?! Franziska was fuming as much as she was hurt that he'd be leaving. Again. Another shadow to chase to somewhere she didn't even want to go, but he was her anchor and because of that, she had to go. She had to follow in his footsteps--- or did she? She'd been doing so well on her own, building her own version of the von Karma legacy following her fateful meeting with Phoenix Wright and her reunion with Miles Edgeworth. But she was...still her father's daughter. She still had to--

Blast it all! Franziska stopped by a table and slammed her hand down on it, wishing she was in a courtroom just to take the stress off her mind. A case would help her focus, but right now the only case she had was all about him and soon her defendant would be released and then she'd have another blemish on her record!

Her fingers curled into a fist on the table, nails scraping on the plastic top. If she'd been of a better mind, she might have noticed someone familiar nearby, but she wasn't and at the moment, familiar faces were lost to her. She was going to make Martin Landel pay if it was the last thing she did. He'd go down begging and pleading for mercy under her whip, and then she'd take him to jail, where the rest of the flunkies here could deal with him. Almost unconsciously, she snarled, "Martin Landel. You are a dead man."

[unheroed]

Having taken a rare moment to relax, Harvey was jerked out of that by a loud banging noise. What now? Sometimes the patients here behaved like nothing better than children.

Glancing up, he saw a familiar shade of blue hair that he still didn't understand. Since when were prosecutors allowed to dye their hair such ridiculous colors, anyway? He knew there wasn't any law against it (no pun intended), but it was a matter of personal respect. He didn't see how the girl could be taken seriously when she looked like that.

That was besides the point, though. Right now, Miss Franziska looked like she was ready to wring someone's neck, and before he could wonder any further, she gave him the answer as to who: Landel again. It always came back to that, and while he still had no idea what this was about, he couldn't blame her. He was prone to outbursts himself.

Sitting up in his chair, he raised his voice so that it would hopefully break through the cloud of anger that he could almost see circling around the woman. "What'd he do this time?"

[iwhipthefool]

The whip was too merciful. Maybe she'd demean him to working public roads for a good long while, allowing the fellow inmates here to throw whatever they wanted at him (within reason of course - his punishment had to be drawn out and painful), then she'd whip him. After that? The Trial. A perfect trial, one that she was certain to win. Even that spikey-haired loser wouldn't defend him if it came down to it and he'd likely conveniently look the other way when--

"What'd he do this time?"

The voice cut through her fantasy like a knife and Franziska straightened, realizing just how must control she'd lost in that brief moment. She needed to breathe and regain the composure that befit a von Karma. Easier said than done, however, when her patriarchal model was busy trying to pretend she wasn't his daughter anymore.

"Harvey Dent." Name. Occupation: district attorney. Faults? Being utterly useless in the fight against that creature in the pet store. Turning to face him, Franziska pulled her hand away from the desk and set it on her hip, ignoring the stinging pain reverberating through her palm. Calm. Her old demeanor back. "Must I really clarify that for you? Don't you want to see that useless scum brought to justice?"

[unheroed]

Apparently Franziska had been caught in her own little world, if the way she'd responded to his voice was anything to judge by. He wasn't sure what she'd been conjuring up in that head of hers, though based on her expression, it probably wasn't good. Not that Harvey necessarily had a problem with that. Considering she'd wrinkled her nose at the idea of him getting a gun, chances were he had a far more colorful imagination than she did.

He raised his good eyebrow when she said his name by way of greeting (or rather, that she said his full name), but he was soon distracted by what else she had to say.

"Hey, I never said otherwise. My question was what it was that spurred on this particular cursing of him," he pointed out. He didn't think people went around wishing death on others unless they'd been given good immediate reason to do so. While he figured most patients here wanted to see the Head Doctor smashed under an eighteen-wheeler, chances were that they weren't going to verbalize that unless the man had done something out of the ordinary.

[iwhipthefool]

Point taken. Harvey Dent was someone to respect as a district attorney, even if his actions the nights prior had put him into question. Franziska crossed her arms and surveyed the Sun Room for a moment, noting the people she knew and narrowing her eyes at others. Her momentary outburst had cost her and now she had to answer or look like she was hiding something, or worse, afraid of answering.

"His brainwashing seems to have worked," she replied, curt and to the point as usual. She refused and would forever refuse to say who Landel turned, but the fact that it was someone important to her was evident. She didn't wish to discuss it further than that and gave Harvey a look to that effect. "Regardless of that, keeping me away from my work in unforgivable. He will be punished for tarnishing my perfect record." Her knuckles cracked slightly as she tightened her fist against her sleeve. "And punished severely."

[unheroed]

Brainwashing. It was a word that got tossed around a lot here, and yet Harvey wasn't sure why she was bringing it up now. That only happened at night, though it was possible she had been victim to it and was still reeling from the aftereffects. While he had seen what she was able to do with a dog leash back in Doyleton, he honestly wasn't sure how intimidating she would be as an antagonist going after the other patients. She had a severe and merciless attitude (good in any attorney), but that didn't mean she would be able to do all that much physical damage when it came down to it.

The other option was that someone close to her had been subjected to it, and yet Harvey found it hard to believe that Franziska was close to that many people. People that committed to their jobs just weren't. In fact, the only reason he'd met Rachel was because it had been through work.

Not that he wanted to think about that now, or ever.

One side of his lips quirked when she mentioned a perfect record. Perfect because she'd barely gotten started, maybe. There was something to be said for losing every once in a while, even if it had a bitter taste to it. "So... what, you got taken last night?" He'd rather get back to the point and see if she would open up a little more.

[iwhipthefool]

"Perfection is achievable by those who truly try." She'd seen that quirk of the lip. She'd seen the same thing on people's faces who were too afraid to laugh at her outright due to her name, but doubted her because of her gender and age. They looked down on her, thought there was no way she could follow her father's legacy. She'd proved them wrong over the course of 6 years. A short time, perhaps in comparison to her father's 40 years, but she'd won so many cases in that time that no one took her lightly anymore. Giving Harvey a cold glare, she continued with, "I expect you won't be the sort of fool who underestimates my skill nor my record by my age, or the fact that I am a woman."

If he was? She'd set him straight. She could easily rattle off the numbers of victories she'd won in her first year as a prosecutor at age 13, and at 14, 15, and so on. Her only losses came against that annoying Phoenix Wright and she was determined to ignore that any of those had ever even happened.

"And incorrect. Unless you're blind, you will have noticed the messages on the board. People are claiming to be 'cured,' when they are only fooled into believing the rubbish that this place spouts." Her knuckles cracked again at the very thought of it and Franziska turned on Harvey, raising an eyebrow at him. "You can't tell me you haven't noticed."

[unheroed]

"Not because you're a woman," Harvey quickly cut in with a shake of his head. He had never doubted Rachel, after all. He'd seen a fair share of women command the courtroom with an iron fist, and sometimes they were the scariest attorneys to go up against. It was more Franziska's age that had him skeptical, but he wasn't going to mention that directly. She looked like she was ready to pick a fight over it. Chances were she was faced with a lack of faith a lot, so while he couldn't exactly blame her, that didn't mean he wasn't still skeptical.

That was all forgotten when she mentioned something about people being 'cured.' He could practically hear the quotations in her tone; while he recalled Landel mentioning something about that in one of his announcements, he had figured it was just the normal nonsense that he spouted for no reason. He hadn't run into anyone who acted strange today, and he hadn't bothered to check the bulletin. He usually only did that when he had something to post himself.

"I don't usually bother with the board," he stated with some disdain. She'd probably think that was a lapse on his part, but Harvey wasn't going to waste his time when the grand majority of those posts were pointless. "And everyone I've met today has acted normal... for this place." Which wasn't saying much, but the point stood.